Germany | Fotoeins Fotografie

Posts from the ‘Germany’ category

Munich: Memorials to the 1972 Olympics Massacre

Above/featured: Munich’s Olympic Park: Olympic Tower and the tent roof structure.

In my hockey-mad nation of birth, September 1972 is defined by the epic hockey Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union; the games and individual stories are stuff of legends. But high on my mind since childhood have been the tragic events that same month in Munich: the worst terrorist act in modern Olympics history.

The 20th Summer Olympics were under way in Munich, Germany, and “Die heiteren Spiele” (The serene Games) as they were called were the first summer games held in post-war Germany since the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Both Munich and Germany wanted to show a different peaceful and prosperous side to the world with the generation born after the Second World War.

However, the 1972 Games will also carry the stain of the “Munich Massacre” on 5-6 September. By crisis’ end, the 17 dead included eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team, one German police officer, and five Palestinian kidnappers. Many questions remained about pre-Game preparations and warnings about a possible attack, security measures, crisis management, and the failed attempt to liberate the hostages. Complete details of events remain murky even after 40 years. The disaster would damage the reputations of city, state, and country as well as international relations for years to come.

( Click here for images and more )

Chilehaus, Kontorhausviertel, UNESCO, Weltkulturerbe, World Heritage, Hamburg, Germany, fotoeins.com

Hamburg UNESCO WHS: Kontorhausviertel (Commercial District)

On 5 July 2015, UNESCO awarded World Heritage status to two sites in Hamburg: the Speicherstadt (Warehouse District) and the Kontorhausviertel (Office Building District). In the latter are two important brick buildings: Chilehaus and the Sprinkenhof, representative of the construction in the late 19th- and early 20th-century.

The Chilehaus was built by Fritz Höger for client Henry Sloman from 1922 to 1924 in the Kontorhausviertel as a prime example of German expressionist architecture using hard-fired brick. Höger undertook the project for Hamburg merchant and banker Sloman who made his fortune in importing nitrates from Chile. Built entirely to serve and complement the functions of the warehouses in neighbouring Speicherstadt, the Kontorhausviertel was the first dedicated office- and commercial-district on the European continent.

( Click here for images )

My Berlin: that (TV-) tower again

I like shiny pointy objects, and if it’s by deliberate effort or accidental circumstance, the Fernsehturm (TV Tower) slides into many of my photos from Berlin. And if people throughout Berlin can see the tower, how do those who live in or commute through different parts of the capital city view the landmark? After multiple visits between 2005 and 2021, I’ve accumulated over 45 lines-of-sight to the TV Tower around Berlin.

( Click here for images and more )

Marienplatz, MVG München, U-Bahn, München, Munich, Germany, fotoeins.com

From the World Outside & Into Munich’s Metro

Above/featured: U-Bahnhof Marienplatz.

After dozens of visits since 2002 to Germany’s Munich, I’ve become familiar with the city’s transport network. For the city’s residents, the day-to-day work commute from the upside and into below can merge into a monotonous grind. The following images within five U-Bahn or metro sitations might challenge that notion with ghost-like and otherworldly appearances.

Georg-Brauchle-Ring

7am morning commute (IG)

Hauptbahnhof

Bahnland Bayern (IG)

Lehel

One foot in front of the other … (IG)

Marienplatz

U6, nach/to Klinikum Grosshadern (IG1, IG2)

Westfriedhof

Comings and goings (IG)

I made all pictures above between 22 and 24 February 2017 inclusive. Alle Fotoaufnahmen sind mit Wasserzeichen versehen worden. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins.com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-buj.

Fasching, Maschkera, Oimrausch: pre-Lent shenanigans in Mittenwald

This ain’t no Hallowe’en¹.

In southern Germany, this is Fasching, known also as Werdenfelser Fosanacht, to go along with the masks for Maschkera. It’s also about about distinctions and differences by comparison with Karneval on the Rhein.

Festivities take place before Catholic Lent, and the key idea behind the wild colourful costumes and wooden masks is the very pagan origin and ritual of driving out or driving away evil spirits of winter lurking inside people and their homes and welcoming the friendly spirits of spring for a productive growing season.

( Click here for images and more )